Winners of the 4th annual wildflower photo contest

April 13, 2012

Updated Aug. 21, 2013 1:17 p.m.

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Grand winner: Tuan Le of Anaheim submitted this photo of a calla lily that he photographed in his garden on a Sunday morning just before it rained. The image was entered in the Non-native flowers/Garden Flowers category. TUAN LE

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Wildflowers with people and/or pets winner: Jill Odice of Littlerock submitted this photo of California poppies taken in Lancaster. She says: "While visiting the Poppy Reserve in Lancaster, I didn't find many poppies, so I drove past it and found this huge field of them with a hillside full of goldfields. These ladies must have been looking for somewhere to have a picnic." JILL ODICE

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Non-native flower winner: Yi-Hsien Doo of Irvine captured this night blooming ceres at night in his back yard. YI-HSIEN DOO

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Youth winner: Dante Dahabreh of Huntington Beach submitted this photo of a moth orchid. He says he found this flower while walking through a small marsh near the beach. He saw a few roses deeply rooted in the ground with this moth orchid on top. "What surprises me about this flower is that it is shaped like a bird. It is a natural grown flower that amazingly formed this image," writes Dahabreh. DANTE DAHABREH

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Nature winner: Eric Su, of San Diego, says these flowers grow on the rocky coves of La Jolla, a small stretch of coastline in San Diego. The cliffs where these flowers grow are dangerous to climb on, leaving them undisturbed and in pristine condition. ERIC SU

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Votes winners: Jonathan Sanchez from Cerritos submitted this photograph of an orchid he photographed in the early-evening hours. The photo, submitted into the Non-native Flowers/Garden Flowers category, received 18,004 votes. JONATHAN SANCHEZ

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2012 wildflowers with people and/or pets honorable mention: Michelle D. Nguyen of Santa Ana submitted this photo of daisies near Bakersfield. She says, "Being a lover of wildflowers, i was driving around Carrizo Plain and found this nice patch of yellow daisy wildflowers. It was around 11 a.m., and the blue sky was gorgeous." MICHELLE D NGUYEN

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2012 Wildflowers with people and/or pets Honorable Mention: Sarah Gallo, of Aliso Viejo, submitted this photo of wildflowers along the Aliso Viejo/Laguna Hills border. She says the "photo was taken with my iphone. I was on a walk with my dog, and the photo opportunity struck me." SARAH GALLO

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2012 Youth Honorable Mention: Amy Vincent of Seal Beach, submitted this photo of a fairy Iris. She says, "I caught this flower in the early morning as I was leaving my house. I thought that the dew accented the beauty of the flower." AMY VINCENT

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2012 Youth Honorable Mention: Rebekah Martinez of Orange, submitted this photo of a purple flower that she shot at the butterfly exhibit at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. REBEKAH MARTINEZ

2012 Non-Native Flower Honorable Mention: Greg Hucko, of Buena Park submitted this photo of daisies. He says he took this photo at the Mission at San Juan Capistrano. GREG HUCKO

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2012 Non-Native Flower Honorable Mention: Daniel Pham, of Mission Viejo submitted this photo of a dragon fire flower. He says he took this photo at a garden nursery in Santa Ana. DANIEL PHAM

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2012 Non-Native Flower Honorable Mention: Eric Shields, of Irvine submitted this photo of a an African daisy growing in his garden. ERIC SHIELDS

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2012 Wildflowers with people and/or pets Honorable Mention: Wendy Kathleen McElfish, of Rancho Santa Margarita, submitted this photo of Brittlebush in Mission Viejo. She says "This was taken of my 16-month-old son Kingston in a giant field of brittlebush I found off the highway. It was taken about 40 minutes before sunset. I let him wander in the flowers and followed him with my camera." KATHLEEN MCELFISH

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2012 Wildflowers with people and/or pets Honorable Mention: Stephen G. Bennett, of Long Beach, submitted this photo of a desert lupine in Indio. He says the "photo was taken along the I-10 Freeway on the way to Joshua Tree National Park. The flower is being eaten by a meloid beetle (Cysteodemis species)." STEPHEN G. BENNETT

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2012 Wildflowers with people and/or pets Honorable Mention: Eric Su, of San Diego, submitted this photo of Ranunculus. He says "Every spring the flower fields in Carlsbad put on a show and attract many visitors." ERIC SU

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2012 Nature Category Honorable Mention: Raul James Gonzales, of Norwalk, submitted this photo of gerbera daisies. He says "sometimes when you look up, you see the sky, as well as the sun... Now if you crawl on down and live in a bug's eye view of things within life, you get an entirely awesome perspective of a bug's eye view of life." RAUL JAMES GONZALES

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2012 Nature Category Honorable Mention: Maureen Sullivan, of Long Beach, submitted this photo of Blue Lupine. She says the "early morning image of this wild, blue lupine was taken while hiking on the Santa Rosa Plateau in Riverside County." MAUREEN SULLIVAN

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2012 Nature Category Honorable Mention: Alisa Flint, of San Clemente, submitted this photo of Plummer's mariposa lilies. She says she "discovered hiking in the hills of Elsmere Canyon Open Space along the ridge line." ALISA FLINT

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2012 Nature Category Honorable Mention: Carol Ward, of Santa Ana, submitted this photo of Great Marsh Evening primroses. She says "I found this hiking in Modjeska Canyon. Initially I didn't even see the spider until I looked under the flower to get a different view and shot." CAROL WARD

2012 Nature Category Honorable Mention: Nobuo Iwata, of Irvine, submitted this photo of Cleveland sage. Iwata says "It was a beautiful day. The time I photographed this was 10:45 a.m. I found this while I was walking in the San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary." NOBUO IWATA

2012 Nature Category Honorable Mention: Suzi Hambruch, of Huntington Beach, submitted this photo of California poppies. She says it was "taken mid-day with a full sun and no clouds." SUZI HAMBRUCH

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2012 Nature Category Honorable Mention: Leslie Antosy of Huntington Beach, found this cluster of flowers along the ashbasin on Victoria Avenue that leads to the ocean in Huntington Beach. LESLIE ANTOSY

2012 Non-Native Flower Honorable Mention: Holly Ferguson, of San Juan Capistrano submitted this photo of a rose. Holly says she took this photo of the rose in her back yard. HOLLY FERGUSON

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2012 Non-Native Flower Honorable Mention: Nobuo Iwata, of Irvine submitted this photo of a nelumbo nucifera. He says the day he took the photo was a bit windy. NOBUO IWATA

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2012 Non-Native Flower Honorable Mention: Pauline Krok, of Lake Forest, submitted this photo of a poppy. She says her granddaughter brought this flower to her on her 65th birthday and was compelled to capture the image so the flower can live forever. PAULINE KROK

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2012 Non-Native Flower Honorable Mention: Michelle D. Nguyen, of Santa Ana submitted this photo of Persian buttercups. She says she found the flowers on a beautiful and sunny day in the flower fields in Carlsbad. MICHELLE D. NGUYEN

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2012 Non-Native Flower Honorable Mention: Maureen Sullivan, of Long Beach submitted this photo of an Icelandic poppy. She says she took the photograph right after a spring rain early in the morning. MAUREEN SULLIVAN

2012 Youth Honorable Mention: Nicole Stanborough of Costa Mesa, says, "I was walking during the day around 3 o clock with my friend. I pulled out my camera and took a picture. I loved the bug in the flower." NICOLE STANBOROUGH

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2012 Youth Honorable Mention: Madison, of Rancho Santa Margarita took this picture at the flower fields in Carlsbad. She says there were some small rocks on the ground that she used to make a smiley face. MADISON, OF RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA

2012 Wildflowers with people and/or pets Honorable Mention: Elaine Cali, of Santa Ana, submitted this photo of daisies. She says "It was a beautiful pre-sunset spring evening at Fairview park around 6:30 p.m. We were out walking and stumbled on this wonderful field of flowers in this rural park." ELAINE CALI

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2012 Wildflowers with people and/or pets Honorable Mention: Leanne Kelly, of Ocean Beach, submitted this photo of goldfields and a few lupines on Mt. Laguna. She says she was "out enjoying our beautiful national forest, the sunshine and the flowers." LEANNE KELLY

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2012 Wildflowers with people and/or pets Honorable Mention: Leslie Antosy, of Huntington Beach, submitted this photo of a water lily in San Juan Capistrano. She says "This was taken in late November during a field trip with my fourth-grade students. I caught this beautiful golden koi frolicking around the blooming water lily." LESLIE ANTOSY

Lauren Villegas from Santa Ana submitted this photo of purple wildflowers with a tiger swallowtail butterfly found at the Santiago Park Nature Center. The photo, submitted into the "wildflowers youth" category, received 17,098 votes. LAUREN VILLEGAS

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Barry Besser of Orange submitted this photo of a black suave daylily planted in his garden. The photo, submitted into the "non-native flowers/garden flowers" category, received 2,360 votes. BARRY BESSER

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Keely Eure of Mission Viejo submitted this photo of a sticky monkey flower. Keely submitted her photo into the "wildflower youth" category. She loves taking photos and editing them and also enjoyed looking for wildflowers in her area. Keely's photo received 2,099 votes. KEELY EURE

Grand Winner: Tuan Le, of Anaheim, submitted a photo of a Calla Lily that he photographed in his garden on a Sunday morning just before it rained. COURTESY OF TUAN LE

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VOTES WINNER: Jonathan Sanchez from Cerritos submitted a photograph of an orchid he photographed in the early evening hours. COURTESY OF JONATHAN SANCHEZ

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VOTES WINNER: Jonathan Sanchez from Cerritos submitted this photograph of an orchid he photographed in the early evening hours. The photo, submitted in the "Non-native Flowers/Garden Flowers" category, received 18,004 votes. JONATHAN SANCHEZ

Grand winner: Tuan Le of Anaheim submitted this photo of a calla lily that he photographed in his garden on a Sunday morning just before it rained. The image was entered in the Non-native flowers/Garden Flowers category.TUAN LE

2012 began with a very warm, dry winter. So, it's no shock that this year's spring floral display has gotten off to a late start.

But, this late start hasn't stopped shutterbugs from entering some beautiful pictures of flowers in the Orange County Register's and O.C. Hiking Club's fourth annual wildflower photo contest.

In all, 434 photos were entered. The number of entries received was down from rainy 2011, but the quality entered this year impressed. It's apparent that photographers took their time, waited for perfect lighting conditions and the luck of circumstance to take their best shots.

Grand Winner - Judges' pick: Tuan Le, 51, of Anaheim, will receive a plaque and a $100 cash card. Tuan impressed judges with his photo of calla lily with an eager bee sitting on it.

Tuan works as an engineer in Irvine and enjoys many hobbies, including photography. He's interested in macro, portrait and landscape photography.

Votes winner: Jonathan Sanchez, 20, of Cerritos, attends Cypress College and majors in biology. Jonathan entered his photograph of an orchid shot in the light of early evening with his Nikon D300 using a 17-55mm, f/2.8 lens. Jonathan will receive a plaque and a $100 cash card after receiving the most votes (18,004) in the contest.

Below are the contest's category winners. Each winner was awarded a plaque.

Wildflowers with people/ pets: Jill Odice, of Littlerock, Ca., submitted a photo of California poppies taken in Lancaster where she visited in a poppy reserve. The photo looks like a postcard featuring golden hills with two women walking through the poppies.

Nature: Eric Su, of San Diego found wildflowers growing in the rocky coves of La Jolla on the coastline of San Diego.

Non-native flowers/garden flowers: Yi-Hsien Doo, of Irvine captured the photo of a night-blooming cereus growing in his back yard. Of course Yi-Hsien had to take the photo at night to capture it in full bloom.

Wildflowers youth: Dante Dahabreh, of HuntingtonBeach submitted a photo of a moth orchid in a marsh land near the beach.

The fun isn't over yet! Recent rains have produced colors popping all over the landscapes of Southern California. So, get up, get out and enjoy the great outdoors and all its beauty. Oh, and don't forget to take along your camera!

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